HAPPY NEW YEAR

As I look back over the last years, I always think of the things we've lost and the things we've gained.  Another year has gone by, this one even faster than the last. I reckon when you reach 60 plus years of saddling up, you know your riding a down hill trail, and it only makes sense that each year would pick up a little more speed. When you're young, a year can seem like forever. The older a man gets, however, the faster time flies by. New years seem to come to the Chicken Ranch faster than a tax assessor can find your new shed.

When a new year is thought of, we tend to say "Out with the old, and in with the new." But, as I think about it, I'm glad some of the old just gets older, and moves right along with us. I'm glad some things are lasting things. After all, this years latest technology will be replaced by next years latest and greatest technology. And "New and improved" isn't always a good thing; some things were better before they were improved upon. No, I'm glad that there are some lasting things that are with us year after year. God has given us a few things that are perfect for this life, and perfection cannot be improved upon. As long as there is life on this Earth, there a some things that are with us always.

Sunrises and sunsets, for example, are always with us. The silently powerful rise of that life sustaining orange orb is welcome day after day, year after year. The setting of it each day lifts another page of life from the calendar, and gives us a quiet pause, before another new day of unknowns dawns upon us. I love that the days are marked by the rising and setting of the sun.

I'm glad rivers are also with us always. The flow of the water along its journey is a reminder of our steady voyage through this life. Through the straits and narrows, the bends and falls, the water moves on. Day and night, rain or shine, winter or summer, the water travels on to its destination, and is one day collected by the sea. Rivers remind me of the unstoppable passing of time.

Love moves into each new year with us, although with the passing of time, it may change form. The heady euphoric youthful kind of love may mature into something that feels more like security, appreciation, contentment, and companionship. If we have truly loved and been loved, it lingers a long time after we have been collected by the sea. Love can remain in the hearts of those we have touched  long after we're gone. I'm glad love travels with us.

I'm thankful that memories roll along with us as the pages of the calendar turn. I know personal memories can be robbed by age or disease, but the memories that we help build don't belong solely to us; they last beyond us, much as love does. Babies are born, children and grandchildren are raised, and times and experiences shared are bound up in a book of life that has a new chapter written with each rising of the sun. No, our memories are not ours alone; they belong to all that we share this life with. Pleasant memories are the warm glow left with us long after the wine glass is empty., the burning coals left behind when the flame has leaped its last.

So while I do not wish to become stagnant and refuse to accept change when it is good, I am glad that some things do not change. I'm thankful that some things ride through time with us like a steady companion. It feels good to know there are a few things in this natural life that you can trust, appreciate, and count on...year after year.

To all y'all, a heartfelt Happy New Year from all of us at the KD Chicken Ranch.